Have you ever thought that modern Japanese emperors were not for the first time powerless public figures? Well, the emperors of medieval Japan were treated the same way by society. From 1192 to 1868, Japan was ruled by three different feudal governments called shogunates, led by shoguns. Shogun was the commander-in-chief of feudal Japan who held all military power in his hands and was the true ruler of the country over the emperor and royal family who resided in Kyoto. However, during the Ashikaga shogunate, the second shogunate, constant civil wars between daimyos, feudal lords, weakened the shogunate and the daimyos lost their loyalty. In 1467, the three leading daimyos "provoked the outbreak of hostilities in the Onin War at Kyoto", which then brought all provincial daimyos into an era of Warring States that lasted from 1467 to 1603. Japanese historians called it the Sengoku period. Say no to plagiarism. Get a custom essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essay Towards the end of the Sengoku period, three daimyos had come to power: Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and Tokugawa Ieyasu, and they were called the three great unifiers of Japan. Even though Ieyasu did not come to power until 1598, he did not want to suddenly become the shogun to rule Japan; instead, he had ambitions to take over since he became a loyal servant of Nobunaga, then transferred his loyalty to Hideyoshi after Nobunaga's death, and eventually rebelled against the Toyotomi clan to conquer all the daimyos who opposed him, which unified Japan and put an end to Sengoku. period.Ieyasu entered into an important military alliance with Nobunaga, who was one of the most powerful daimyos in 1562, which marked the beginning of Ieyasu's rise to power as a daimyo when he fought alongside of Nobunaga and received the province of Suruga as a reward from Nobunaga. Nobunaga expanded the Oda clan's influence outside of Owari Province, the western half of present-day Aichi Prefecture, by conquering more and more daimyos who opposed him. By the end of Nobunaga's conquest, the Oda clan controlled all of central Japan and planned to expand westward. Ieyasu saw the potential to unify Japan in Nobunaga, whom he followed with absolute loyalty. For example, Ieyasu's son and wife were suspected of treason, then Nobunaga asked Ieyasu to kill them shortly after. Not only did Ieyasu not defend his son and wife, but he also forced them to commit suicide without hesitation. Ieyasu reacted to this incident with the words: "I have no grudge against Nobunaga. . .. As long as I am in conflict with [my enemy, Takeda Katsuyori] and depend on Nobunaga for support, I cannot challenge Nobunaga very well. There's nothing we can do about it. Simply put, Ieyasu's dedication to defeating his enemy Takeda Katsuyori and gaining greater territorial control with Nobunaga's help had broken his paternal bond with his son and wife, who were killed without clear evidence of treason . Since Nobunaga was the most powerful daimyo at the time, even if Ieyasu wanted revenge on his family, Nobunaga would have crushed Ieyasu's army and the Tokugawa clan fairly quickly, and Ieyasu's dream of unifying Japan would disappear . Therefore, for Ieyasu to preserve his glory and power as daimyo, his only choice was to follow Nobunaga's intolerable demand and act as a loyal servant despite Nobunaga's ruthless leadership and control over his subjects. However, Nobunaga's glory did not last when one of his servants, Akechi Mitsuhide, rebelled againstNobunaga in 1582 and forced him to commit suicide at Honnoji, Kyoto, also known as the Honnoji Incident. Ieyasu's army was not powerful enough to take over Japan at the time of Nobunaga's death, so he submitted to Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the successor of the Oda clan, and continued to gain political and military power while no one tried to stop him.After Nobunaga's death, Hideyoshi regained power and his supporters, including Ieyasu, then Hideyoshi finished Nobunaga's work of unifying Japan by conquering the rest of Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu in 1590. After that, Hideyoshi attempted to reform society after decades of wars. and passed laws that unwittingly helped Ieyasu become a dominant daimyo, as Ieyasu strategically stayed outside of Hideyoshi's domain to prevent conflict. Ieyasu considered Hideyoshi one of his formidable adversaries after Nobunaga, and Ieyasu tried to avoid conflict with Hideyoshi by being a loyal servant of the Toyotomi clan (Turnbell 53). For example, Hideyoshi redistributed the daimyos in different provinces of Japan, and he appointed the daimyos he trusted to the provinces in the Kansai region surrounding Osaka and sent Ieyasu further east to the Kanto region. Furthermore, Ieyasu agreed to exchange his home province of Mikawa for the Kanto provinces in eastern Honshu with Hideyoshi since Mikawa was close to Osaka. Kanto was far from Hideyoshi's home province of Osaka and Hideyoshi, although it would be safe from the potential threat of Ieyasu. Ieyasu moved his capital from Mikawa Province to eastern Honshu and established his new capital in Edo, present-day Tokyo. Not only did Ieyasu's migration prevent him from having a direct conflict of interest with Hideyoshi, but the areas of the Kanto Plain and Tokyo Bay also provided resources for the Tokugawa clan to prosper. Although Ieyasu was forced to leave Mikasa, parting ways with Hideyoshi was his only way to strengthen his army without suspecting betrayal and then being eliminated by Hideyoshi's superior army (Turnbell 53). Furthermore, moving Ieyasu to the east had benefited him, and Hideyoshi's policies aimed at stabilizing society also helped Ieyasu pose a threat to Hideyoshi later. For example, Hideyoshi issued the edict of Katana Kari (Sword Hunting) to remove swords from civilians and prevent his newly unified empire from falling into a warring state again, as one of the main causes of the Sengoku period was that people in the lower hierarchy were having too much power and became uncontrollable. The decree stipulated that all farmers in the country were prohibited from possessing weapons, under penalty of being brought to justice. Furthermore, if the samurai failed to enforce the law and punish violators, they would lose the rights and benefits of their farms. The decree also states that if farmers concentrate exclusively on agriculture and abandon their temptation to rebel against the state, their deceased will prosper on the lands they cultivated and bring peace, happiness and security to all . Additionally, with the enactment of Hideyoshi's Sword Hunt, Ieyasu did not have to worry about the local farmers revolting as the new leader of the Kanto region, as Kanto was once controlled by the enemies of Ieyasu. Since Hideyoshi had removed his greatest threat, Ieyasu, from his sight, he launched campaigns to conquer Korea and then Ming China when Ieyasu remained strategically in Kanto and did not lose his military strength in Korea. While Ieyasu was strengthening his army without major disruption, Hideyoshi's army was destroyed by Korea with the help of China, then Hideyoshi, 2012.